Marathon Basin The Post and Prairie Dog Colony

Marathon, Texas

The Marathon Basin is a natural bowl between the Glass Mountains on the north and east and Santiago Mountains on the south and southwest. The Post contains the remains of old Fort Pena Colorado, established in 1879 to protect settlers from hostile Indians; it was abandoned in 1893. Today The Post is a popular picnicking site that can be busy on weekends. The historic Gage Hotel, in the center of Marathon, was built by Alfred Gage in 1927 as headquarters for his extensive ranch. It has since been renovated for a popular hotel and restaurant. Marathon also contains a number of craft shops and the James Evans Gallery.
Key Birds here include: “Mexican Duck” (Mallard), Harris’s Hawk, Scaled Quail, Greater Roadrunner, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black and Say’s Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Common Raven, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Phainopepla, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-throated Sparrow, House Finch, and Lesser Goldfinch are present year-round.

Marathon Basin: The Post and Prairie Dog Colony Professional Review and Guide

"The Marathon Basin is a natural bowl between the Glass Mountains on the north and east and Santiago Mountains on the south and southwest. The Post contains the remains of old Fort Pena Colorado, established in 1879 to protect settlers from hostile Indians; it was abandoned in 1893. Today The Post is a popular picnicking site that can be busy on weekends. The historic Gage Hotel, in the center of Marathon, was built by Alfred Gage in 1927 as headquarters for his extensive ranch. It has since been renovated for a popular hotel and restaurant. Marathon also contains a number of craft shops and the James Evans Gallery.

Recent Trail Reviews

The purported prarie dog colony north of town was MIA - possible because the dogs were hibernating. Either way we saw no evidence of holes, and are not even sure we found the site, though we got out at several points along the road at the directed milage. We did see a red tailed hawk and a loggerhead shrike however.
The post south of town was a nice pond with grackles and what might have been grebes. The county park structures made the site not as scenic as it could have been